So my time at Malapascua is over. Duane and i left the island on Sunday (making sure to get three dives in first) and caught a car back to Cebu. We had met an Aussie named Cam who had arrived in Malapascua just the day before who was also leaving Sunday so we shared our car with him. It was helpful because Duane and i didn't know where we were headed in Cebu and Cam seemed to know the area well enough to get us to a decent place to stay the night.
Now Duane and i had discussed how to spend our remaining time here (my journey home starts on Tuesday night) and we had heard that you can swim with whale sharks in a place called Oslob, three hours south of Cebu. Sounds like fun! Cam was also going to come with us but changed his plan at the last minute because a friend was going to be in Cebu that night and he wanted to meet up with her.
Before leaving for Oslob, we did some interneting to figure out a place to stay overnight in Oslob as we heard the best time to swim with the sharks is early in the morning. Turns out Oslob is a VERY tiny town and the only places that we could find online were nearby resorts charging $200+ US per night. No thanks. So we decided to just go and see what happens. Best decision ever!
Well we hopped on a bus and found our way to Oslob. When we got off, there was no obvious places to stay so we just started to wander. The town was really quite nice and the people were all very friendly, everyone would smile. I don't think they're used to having many long-noses (white folks) around. The first place that we saw that "might" be a boarding house announced itself with the distinct smell of weed. We were also not really sure that it was a boarding house so we kept walking.
When we got down by the water a couple of guys standing in the street called us over. They asked us if we were looking for a place to stay and told us they could take us to one. They were quite friendly (as was everyone in town) and they took us to a place that we had actually just walked by without noticing. We ended up paying 600p instead of $200 so we were quite pleased.
To thank them (their names were Iti and Dennis) for being so helpful we asked them if we could buy them a beer, so we walked down the street and sat at a little shop/stand and chatted. We learned a lot about the area and how we should go about getting to Tanawan (where the whale sharks are) and about life in Oslob. Iti is the warden of a marine sanctuary and Dennis is a retired nurse. Anyways, we had some laughs and then Iti's daughter came by to tell him there were fishermen in the sanctuary so he had to go. We walked over to his house and waited on the shore while he paddled out to talk to the fishermen. I was really surprised when I saw the area near his house, beautiful park land right on the ocean with a couple of old Spanish ruins in it. Amazing!
I should note that it seemed like both Iti and Dennis were pretty drunk after the two beers we bought them. I was really surprised when Iti got in his little canoe to paddle out on the ocean in the dark.l, bit he made it back ok. When Iti got back, he took us over to the main street and recommended a place to eat. He and Dennis both had to get home then and they left.
Now I should mention I had a questionable meal when I was on Malapascua that basically made for a uncomfortable afternoon. I have been trying to be a little more careful about what I put in my mouth since then, but this meal was going to test that decision. Duane ended up ordering some whole baby squids that he basically had to gut before eating. I chose not to partake in that mess but I did have a plate full of tiny whole pickled fish that were quite nice. Duane did end up regretting the squid later, especially since they don't seem to have toilet paper anywhere in town. I pulled some leaves of a plant for him and wished him luck.
Well when we left the restaurant we walked down the main street a bit and were drawn by the sound of karaoke. Here's where things got interesting. Duane really seemed to want to sing, so we went in for a beer and looked at the songbook. He wrote down a number but i didn't see what it was, I assumed from what i saw on the page that he was going to do some Sabbath and I wasn't really sure how that would go over with the locals. Well when they punched in the number Eminem started playing... Huh? They must have gotten the wrong number... Then Duane started rapping! Huh? Do i know you? Well the bar loved it! Not only that but it was like half the town showed up at the door to watch and cheer. It was awesome! When he was done they wanted more but since Duane didn't know any other songs they just got him to do the same one again. Following Duane's performance I ended up doing a couple of country tunes that cleared out the croud that Duane had built, but it was a good time.
Today we woke up to the sound of roosters cock-a-doodle-dooing... at 3am. That's a serious downside to a town who's primary entertainment is cockfighting. The whole town is full of roosters, they're everywhere, and the half dozen that were roosted outside our rooming house were really loud.
We eventually got up at around 6am and made our way to Tanawan for the whale sharks. They are really beautiful animals. We both went out and snorkled with them, but Duane went back and did a dive with them as well. I couldn't because I'm flying tonight, but I think I got some great pics.
Anyways, I'm on a bus on my way back to Cebu now and sadly I'll be starting my long journey home tonight. This has been a fantastic trip and I'm really glad that Duane was able to join me.
Goodbye Philippines, goodbye warm weather, goodbye beaches, goodbye hammocks, goodbye palm trees, goodbye mangos, goodbye scuba, goodbye sharks, goodbye $1 beers, goodbye amazing seafood. I will miss you all.
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